


Tiger in a Pit of Vipers

by indiscreetlynx



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Blood, Female Miqo'te (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen, Minor Violence, Neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28112727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiscreetlynx/pseuds/indiscreetlynx
Summary: L'ukha Tykri reminisces on her past while being in a familiar place.
Kudos: 1





	Tiger in a Pit of Vipers

_ Was it the scent of blood in the air from her recent hunt? _

_ Or was it the nostalgia of being in the sands of the far southern end of the Thanalan desert which reawakened these memories? _

Being near those familiar cliff sides that shielded her former home from outsiders.

The ashen-haired Miqo'te woman closed her golden eyes, allowing her mind to wander as the scent of the cookfire and meat filled her senses.

_ Those memories… _

A young ashen Miqo'te child, no older than the age of six summers, clumsily stumbled after her mother. She had strung her first bow, at least, as well as a six year old could. In her excitement, she tried to show her mother, but her mother's gaze never went to her. Rather, her mother continued to walk excitedly in her own strides toward the Nunh. The child's father. 

When the child realized where her mother was going, she stopped in her tracks and dropped her gaze. This alone was enough to tell her that she wouldn't see her mother tonight, much like many other nights. She turned to return to the tent she often stayed in, leaving the bow behind in the sands behind her.

_ … _

A young ashen Miqo'te child, or rather, a young teenager no older than fourteen summers old, sat alone in her tent. However, her mind wasn't on the fact she was alone yet again. The young Sun Seeker was assembling a bag of things in preparation for her Coming of Age trial.

A trial which many her age in her tribe partook in. A trial which cemented their place in the tribe as an official member. A trial which each her age have to take alone.

L'ukha aspired to be a strong huntress for her tribe, and to finally be recognized by her parents instead of being pushed aside. This trial, however, was not for the faint of heart, and had often led to members of her tribe never returning, much like her siblings and others before her.

With her bag full of survival essentials, and a bow in hand, the young huntress set out. She set out to survive the harsh desert for three moons. To survive with nothing but her instincts and bow.

_ … _

A young ashen Miqo'te woman, no older than eighteen summers old, stood among other members of her tribe. A trinket which matched her eyes laid woven in her hair, and a tribal mark tattooed under her left eye… both which marked her as an official member of the tribe. At least, how she hoped.

Since that day years ago, she returned to the tribe, having successfully proved her Coming of Age, or Rite of Passage. It did nothing to get her mother or father's attention. Her father, she understood, as he upheld his duties as the Nunh. Though it was too often he was in the company of another female, especially her own mother, that made it impossible to be noticed. At least she was able to exchange very few words with him, compared to her own mother.

L'ukha shook those thoughts from her head, glancing about the other members her age she was with. She was to help care for and train some of the younger. To teach them the ways of the hunt. To prepare them for their own Rites of Passage when their time came. Sadly, by looking at them, she knew some wouldn't survive those challenges and knew they'd be better off in Ul'dah. Not that she really cared. She trained herself, and couldn't see why they couldn't do the same.

A commotion pulled the attention of her group over. Yelling, shouting, hissing… L'ukha turned her gaze toward the source, then she quickly moved over towards it. Her eyes fell upon a Miqo'te male with a sword in hand. Dripping with blood. At that males feet was none other than her father. She quickly looked in panic at the other male, was he a new challenger? Did he best her father in combat? Was he their Nunh now?

All these questions flooded her mind, along with fear. His eyes found hers and that's when it dawned, the two of them near identical. Each with ashen hair with blackened ear tips. Each with golden eyes. Each showing features similar to their father's. In her panic, L'ukha turned on her heel and ran. She didn't even think to see if her father yet still breathed, but it didn't matter at that point. She didn't want to be here now. She grabbed only her bow, and fled into the sands of the desert, never looking back.

As she ran, her mind flooded with memories of that male Miqo'te. The memories of her headstrong older half-brother. She knew he hated being told what to do. She knew he never returned from his own Coming of Age trial. She  _ assumed _ him dead.  She dared not look back, and just fled. There was nothing back there for her now, and there never really had been from the start.

Little did she know that she fled directly into danger.

_ … _

A young ashen Miqo'te woman, somewhere in her twenties, opened her eyes. Her half-lidded gaze on her cooking food. All those memories flooding her mind still. An excited trill pulled her from her thoughts and she looked to her large white and blue Lanner, Kunu. A small smile formed as she reached out to pet the avian. "I suppose we ought to eat up and leave this place. Shall we, my trrrusted frrriend?" She spoke to her companion. Together, they ate, and then continued their travels away from the direction of those familiar cliffs.

_ Let us leave this place, and leave these memories in the endless sands. _


End file.
